Is it worth it?
by Isazu
Summary: When Moose was little Casie plan his life and he follow no questions ask. What would happened if she is no longer on board and he is not sure if he wants to give that kind of power to someone ever again. AU 3 shot
1. Chapter 1

I know that probably this is not the best way to say it, but there are some people that are just not meant to be together no matter how hard they try things just don't work out. However, they are some that are perfect for each other, but they don't want to do any work what so ever in hope to have a better relationship. The problem is when a person has had both experiences and doesn't recognize which is she or he was living at that moment.

Moose had tried so hard for years with his relationship with Casie in part because she had been his first love and on the other hand because she was Luke´s little sister and he knew that his best friend wouldn't be happy with him if he broke her heart. Sure enough, their relationship turned up to be a messy one from the start, it all started with the fact that even though he like her Moose wasn't sure what having a relationship entail and even if he care to put the effort. Casie, however, loved or at least thought she was in love, with Moose and she made sure that everyone knew about it. From the moment she was four she declared in front of her entire family that she was going to marry Moose and they would be together forever. The adults found her adorable and even went as far as to tell her that Moose was very lucky to have such a beautiful girlfriend which didn't settle well with the Afro kid who declared that girls were yucky.

Just a year later his feelings toward girls change, but that didn't include the five-year-old who would pretty much stalk him on a daily basis. Even when he went out on dates with Luke, Casie would make sure her brother would take her with them, or she would appear wherever they were making comments about how she and Moose were meant to be together until his date got tired and went away. Sure this would be fun if Moose hadn't been 8 and completely head over heels over the popular girl of his class as the rest of his friend including Luke and had miraculously managed to score a date for her.

Casie was just two years younger than them, but she did a number on his social life consistently making all his girl friends run away. When Moose was about to explode and tell the little girl off Luke had a talk with him about everything that was happening and asked him to be patient with his sister; Casie was her favorite person in the world, and Luke had a tendency to excuse her behavior. This scenes would repeat themselves for a couple of years until finally, she was 8 and Moose 10 and on his birthday party, they kiss, from that moment on they started "dating" with Luke's blessing of course. They continue their relationship, and Moose was amazed at how well they got along for the first couple of months, Casie was an amazing girl, and he enjoyed being part of Luke's family. Sure she was a little clingy and demanding, but Moose was quick to change and adapt to the situation.

Cassie and Moose share their first real kiss together; He had actually had his first kiss with a girl from his grade when he was 7, but he never told anyone about it not even Luke because he knew that Casie would do something to the girl. Dating his best friend little sister would turn to be awkward for him to share some of his experiences with Luke and the rest of his friend, so he got closer and closer to Casie. Soon they were making plans and getting jobs at the mall together so they could see each other and when he started high school he assure her that things wouldn't change because he was in another school. They would share everything that happened to each other every day no matter what he would see Casie before the day ended. At some point; he felt like she was turning into his only confidant and hey maybe he was overthinking things, but he just wasn't comfortable telling Luke about how he and his sister had gone all the way after a particularly hot night of summer when his parents had gone out. He was shy that way also fear for his life play an important part of this, sure he could have told his other friends but guys talk to each other, and he wasn't about to put his faith on loud mouthed boys.

However with Moose starting his plans to go to college things started to take a turned for the worst with Casie freaking out about him possibly choosing to go out of the state. Moose had always dreamed of studying away from home like most kids in his grade but having his girlfriend consistently telling him that it was a bad idea to go away to college was making his decision harder. Every tour he took at his colleges of choice she would go with him or bombarded him with text telling him how much she missed him or how much they could have been doing together instead of him going away. Luke didn't exactly help him either with his comments about how he better behave if he was thinking about going away to study and in other times ignoring him when planning ahead on things because "he obviously was too busy planning to go away" for them to count on him.

Finally, when the letters came back he sat down and waited for his, but the one that he wanted most never came, maybe MIT was a pipe dream. If he was honest, he suspected that his letter might have come but as time passed by he decided that a local college wouldn't be bad after all and so he stayed. He soon found himself looking into moving out of his house and into a dorm room and to his surprise Casie was more than ok with that. Casie soon found her way to his everyday routine; he would come back from class and Casie would be laying on his bed talking with his roommate while listening to music or outside some of his classes. She had tried going to a lecture with him, but she got bored easily and would doodle or started talking to him which annoyed the rest of the class and even the professor who tell them to leave or shut it.

Soon enough he would see her a little less every day, and by the end of his first semester, Casie was a no show on their dates no matter if she was the one orchestrating them or not. By the time Moose was on vacation waiting for his second year at college the signs that his relationship was in bad shape was obvious to everyone around him, even Luke started to tell him that maybe he should move on. Casie would be happy and pretty much ignore him for days to come and then suddenly she would call him in a bad mood or just sad and demanded that he stayed with her and entertained her. They would stay at home if she was tired or go out and drive around if she was up to it, he once suggested a trip to the fair, but she was not really into it, so they dismiss it. Moose had planned to get a job so he could get some extra money while the classes started again but trying to be available for his girlfriend was not leaving him with many options.

Moose's parents didn't like the toll the relationship was having on their son and decided to have a serious conversation with him, sadly the result wasn't what they expected. It seemed that calling out his relationship problems only exacerbate all the feelings that he was trying to keep under control, so he went on looking for Casie, he wanted a reason to keep fighting for them. It seemed that even the weather was against him because it started raining like the sky was crying about something but either way he was not changing his mind, not after everything he had giving up. He walked to her house and knocked on her door a couple of times but nobody came, and he wanted to scream, Moose decided to walk a little more just to clear his mind and so he started to wonder around trying to see what was going on with his life. He used to walk this street with Casie clinging to his arm talking non-stop about the plans she had for both of them for that day, that week, the months to come. How Moose should probably be saving up his money because she thought that it would be nice if he could take her on a little road trip in the summer, sure her brother could come with her current girlfriend but would leave them alone at some point.

All the stories came to a hold when he noticed a couple making out in a park near his view and smiled at the memories of his time with Casie there; yes she hadn't been his first kiss, but he had been hers, and it fill him with such happiness. He was in love with Casie and her family; he had an ok relationship with his parents, but he had always wanted to be part of a big family and now that he was with her his dream of having a brother was a reality.

Everything came to a halt when he was about to cross the street to enter the park, and a car came rushing by making him stop on his track. Moose shout a cursed to the driver that almost ran him over and decided that his walk was over and it was time for him to go back home. He walked towards his house while sending a quick text to Casie telling her that he was going to pick her up tomorrow for a little road trip and some much-needed quality time. The response didn't come until the next morning, and it was a negative that also included a short reason why she wouldn't be available to meet for the rest of the week.

By the end of the week, Moose was bored out of his mind and decided to see if some of his friends were still in town. He knew for a fact that his roommate, Sam, was going to move to Chicago into an apartment with other friends. Even though they had coexisted for the entire semester, Moose was never close to the guy he seemed too jumpy like he was hiding something. At one point he started to wonder if maybe he had something that was illegal or something, he would have asked him, but the guy didn't seem like he wanted to share. So, Moose send a quick text to one of his friends, and he told him that they were helping Sam and Joshua move their things and that he was welcome, with a plan in mind he set to the building that was near campus and soon saw the moving truck park outside the building.

Moose said hello to some guys and together they climb the stairs carrying the couch they had just unload from the truck, groaning at every step after all they were engineering majors not really into lifting heavy things so by the time they made it upstairs they pretty much collapsed on the couch they had just carried upstairs breathing heavily making empty promises about working out more. Moose stood after a while and found himself face to face with his old roommate who looked really surprise to see him there but shook his hand and make small conversation. They had a nice enough chat, but Moose felt like he was imposing until Joshua pulled some beers out of the fridge and invited everyone to stay so they could help connect some of the things they had bought for the apartment. A couple of hours later all the guys were having a great time and Moose found himself helping install some sound system with Sam directing him to the correct position of the speakers and soon enough they started talking.

At the end of the day, he found out that there was another room at the apartment that they were going to use like a little office for them so they could try to start developing some projects they had in mind. Moose decided to spend the night and put some input in what his friends were talking about and also making some plans with them, of course if Casie was ever to call him he would go and see her but for now it was nice to have something to do.

Days turned into weeks until finally, it was time for them to go back to school and before going in completely, he decided that it was time to have a serious talk with his girlfriend. Like most days he went looking for her hoping that things could go back to when they were younger, and she wanted to be with him. Casie opened the door and told him that she was just on her way out but she was happy Moose was there so he could give her a ride, his girlfriend who he had seen less than a dozen times since his college started just wanted him to give her a ride. Once in the car Moose tried to talk to her about his day but he could sense that she was less than interested in anything he was saying, when did things change? WHY did things change?

Moose drove Casie to the mall to meet her friends and started searching for a spot to park so he could join her when she stopped him telling him that she was going in alone.

"Look, Casie, I understand that you want to hang out with your friends, but we barely saw each other, and I'm starting classes soon." Her entire demeanor changed suddenly, and she seemed apologetic but still wouldn't let her joined her friends, and that is when he wonder if maybe she was seeing someone else on the side. Moose was never keen into hanging out with Casie's friend they were usually nice but he rather spent time with his friends, and they all know her already so he thought she really enjoy it now he realized that maybe it wasn't that the case.

Casie promised him that they would see each other the next day but that feeling in the pit of his stomach wouldn't go away, so he went in looking for her. However, he felt really bad when he noticed that she was only hanging out with a big group of girls laughing that was of course until she notice him and she turned angry. At that moment he thought she was going to come at him and tell him off but she just continue to talk to her friends and walked around for a while, to his luck he found Sam and Joshua there and he was quick to join them on their shopping spree. The three of them were discussing what games would be better to have at the apartment when they felt that they were being watched and then they heard giggles. Slowly they turned and realized that a group of girls were looking at them one of them was Casie, which confuse the three of them, suddenly she came up to them and said hello while the rest of the girls stood back whispering.

"What is going on Casie?" Moose asked not really understanding what was happening and the flirty air the girl had while walking their way change now that she had her back to her friends.

"That's what I want to know. I told you I was going out with my friends and here you are with this guys following me, you need to give me some space. Now I'm going to go back with my friends, and you guys are not going to come near us. Understand?" Everything she said was done in a yelling whisper that resembled the way a snake sounds when she wants to attack.

A second later she gave them a forced smile and returned to her group that suddenly surrounded her and started gossiping between them while walking away from Moose and his friends sending the boys flirty looks while giggling. Joshua was the first to ask Moose what was going on. Sam, on the other hand, was the only one that didn't seem shocked about what had just happened, together they walked out of the store and started their way to the parking lot in complete silence. Once they arrived near Sam's car he turned and told Moose to come with them telling him that he shouldn't be alone right now.

Joshua took Moose's car and told them that he was going to pick some food for them and that he would meet them at the apartment. When they were alone Sam was quiet but every now and then he turned to look at Moose until he finally parked the car near a hamburger place they used to go and got out of the car. "Let's eat something. I just texted Joshua that we are eating and he is going to join some other guys for dinner."

Once inside Sam asked him if he was ok and Moose shook his head and after another series of simple questions he just broke down and told him everything about was going on with Casie. "I just don't get it. I haven't changed I still care for her the same way I did, and I'm making an effort. Did you know that Professor Spencer offered me an internship with him in New York for the summer? It would be the chance of a lifetime, and I said no, because I knew that Casie was not going to be happy that I didn't spend time with her. Now if I get to see her for more than 30 minutes is a miracle and what just happened. I mean is insane the way she acted. I don't know any of those girls and she just …."

Moose put his head in his hand and groaned, he had given up so many opportunities to be with this girl, and now she didn't even give him the time of day. Sam waited a couple of minutes to see if Moose wanted to say something else and then started talking bringing Moose a new perspective on things. He told him about how his girlfriend would always talk about her plans for the future and things that didn't really included Moose. Together they piece the possible moment when the girl had started to fall out of love with him, the life she was living now at her high school with different kids that didn't know she was Moose's girlfriend or Luke's little sister was changing her. Not necessarily for the worst but for the first time in her life she was presenting herself in a different light and apparently he wasn't part of her plans.

A text interrupted their conversation, it was from her telling him that he needed to go to her house so they could talk, and they realized then that it had been hours since they had arrived at the burger place. They paid for their meal, and Sam drove Moose to her house and told him that he would wait for him giving him a sad smiled knowing that when he sees the boy again, he would probably have broken up with Casie. The first couple of minutes of the conversation were spent with Moose apologizing for following her into the mall and Casie just going at him until she was satisfied.

"Fine Casie now that we both agree that it was a mistake to follow you. How about we talked about why I did it? You have to admit that is not normal that you and I don't spend any time together also you never introduce me to any of the girls you were hanging out with. If I'm not wrong, you were really acting like you were flirting with some random guys." He finished his statement while crossing his arms giving the girl a stern look.

"Look I was trying to find a better time to tell you this, but I guess this is as good as any. I think we should break up Moose; I understand that you might not want to, but I can't live this charade anymore. I want to be able to go out with my friends anytime I want without you making me feel bad for not choosing to be with you. I want to have fun at outings while we talk about boys we like in our class and obsess with them about who are we going to the prom with. The only thing you want to do is go out with your friends and talk or go to some little get-together, Moose I'm young I want to go to big parties."

Casie continued to rant while he tried to understand where she was coming from, he wasn't an old person for god sakes Moose was just two years older than Casie and now she was talking to him like he was ready to go to a retired home. He gave her time and space; he had forgotten his dream to go away to college to stayed near her to be here for her every desire. Sure he never had any interest in her parties, but if he remembered correctly, she never invited him to any or even mention them to him. Moose assumed that he was going to go to her prom with her, but now he realized that she never plan for that. He cut her rant to ask her if there was someone else she like and Casie slapped him.

There was not more to say after that, she ran upstairs calling him some insults and before he knew it Luke was in front of him pushing him outside the doors telling him not to come again. Moose tried to explain the situation however, Luke was having none of it. "I told you that you should move on a while ago. Poor Casie didn't want to hurt you, but you push her into this, get out Moose we don't want you here."

That's how Moose walked out of that house without a girlfriend and a "best friend" although if he was completely honest, he had gone into the house without them either.

 **Notes**

Here we go again, I had such a horrible writers block for a while sorry. But when I sat down to write again this is what came to me, I hope you guys enjoy it feel free to say what you think about it. Not to worry I'll finish the other stories I just needed something to help me out of the slump


	2. Chapter 2

The next couple of months he tried to move to another city and another college which proof to be difficult with his classes starting but soon he realize that even though his school wasn't his first choice or dream school, it was a pretty good one. Moose did change a few things though, for example, he started an aggressive search for a job and a place to live off campus like most of his friends had done, but he also needed to find someone to live with because he knew that he wouldn't be able to afford it alone. Luckily, Joshua knew a guy that was looking to move off campus too so he jump at the opportunity and with a part time job he found with some of his parent's friend he was able to have enough money to make it happened.

On another note even though he didn't agree with what Casie implied when she broke up with him, that he was boring, Moose made an effort to meet more people and have a more enjoyable time. That proved to be easier than he thought now that he wasn't waiting next to the phone for Casie to call or text him telling him what they were going to do. Sam and Joshua ended up being pretty good guys, and he enjoyed joining their crazy parties that usually center in playing some obscure video game or watching games and eat like there was no tomorrow. His roommate, Michael, would also join those parties and sometimes they even do some of them at their place, those he didn't enjoy so much because they would leave his apartment a real mess. Sadly, not one of them was on his major, so he didn't know many of the attendees at first however, that had a bright side because his circle of friends grew exponentially fast in a short amount of time.

Although Moose refer to them as his friends, he considered them more like acquaintances, after seeing what happened with Luke he wasn't sure he ever had a true friend. Looking back he found himself having a new perspective on how his friendship with his "best friend" had been and Moose was saddened to realize that it had been very one-sided and maybe inexistent in reality. When he had problems with Casie he would go and asked Luke for advice the response he received each time was to comply with what the girl wanted or to admit that he was wrong if it was a fight no matter the subject. Now, Moose was always pleasant with everyone, but he didn't share more than the occasional anecdote about something that had happened at class to someone else or rarely him. Moose was so afraid to be open to new people that he even developed norms for his anecdotes. The criteria for his stories were; never include any personal details nor anything that would be considered embarrassing for him and zero mention of his past.

Sam, who happened to be very observant, called him out once when he figure out that he was superficial on his sharing, but Moose played it down making the other boy aware that this behavior was something planned. Once he walked into his apartment and listened to his "friends" talking about their families and how they miss some things about them and also some stories from when they were younger, and he just sat there listening, but he didn't share anything.

That was the only time Moose consider that he was maybe missing something not opening himself to the chance to let people know him. Aside from that he still consider that he was doing more than ok with his plan to have more of the social life, he had constant invitations to parties or games every week, so he stuck to his modus operadi. Now on a more honest level, he did miss having someone to share his goals and stories, now that he was able to have some of his own but opening up to someone that could leave wasn't an option for him.

On an academic level, his grades had improved, and his professors seemed to take a liking to him especially Professor Mars who coincidently was his favorite teacher ever. Moose was pleased that he was making such a good impression on the older man because he knew the guy was very respected in his field and a recommendation from him would open many doors. That proved to be true when in the middle of the semester he called his tops students, Moose included, to join him in a developing project he was in charge which was a dream come true for him, and he saw it as confirmation that his plan was working.

On the one side, the hours were long and soon enough Moose found himself missing plans with his "friends" but on the other hand he got closer to the people on the project that gave him an opportunity to get to know more people on his major. It got more obvious to him that no matter where he was people would be open about certain things, but he could sense that some of them were also guarded about what they share, and he wonder if maybe he wasn't the only one with a past that didn't feel comfortable sharing.

Little by little the hours started to be more manageable after a couple of months, and Moose realized that his other group of friends had consistently tried to stay in touch with him sometimes organizing gatherings in his apartment to make it easier for him to attend. It was a nice feeling to know that they care for him so when his first afternoon off came he walked towards their apartment, and together they stayed up late talking about all the things he had missed. A week later when his professor sent him an email about an opportunity to go on his winter break to New York to see him present their findings with the rest of the group he was more than eager to go.

However, when he started asking the rest of the team if they were going most of them said no, the problem was that even though the professor like the group to be with him, he couldn't afford to pay for their expenses. Moose didn't understand why the professor hadn't mentioned that to him, but then he re-read the mail and noticed that in fact, the professor did tell him but he had ignored the last paragraph in his excitement for the chance that was presented to him.

With his heart broken Moose went on to visit Sam and Joshua, and for the second time since he met Sam he opened himself to him, he told them how much he wished to go to New York and be there to see the presentation. It was such an out of character move for him to show how vulnerable he felt that both boys didn't know what to do until Joshua had an idea.

"Dude, you only really need to have enough money to share gas the drive can be done between two people and I would love to go on break to New York so if you want we can drive together. I have a friend there that has an apartment, and I know for a fact that he would be ok with us staying with him, his sister studies with us so I can ask her just to be sure." Moose wasn't sure what to say to Joshua, everything sounded amazing, and he only managed a weak thanks before the guys told him that it was ok and change the subject. He stayed quiet the rest of the afternoon except for the lame comment about some joke or story the guys told him. That night when he went back to his apartment, he decided that maybe his approach wasn't the right one and maybe this trip could be an opportunity for him to learn to trust people again.

Winter break came sooner than expected and Moose found himself in a car with Joshua listening to musicals, because Joshua liked musicals and Moose learned that lesson the hard way. After a while, he felt more comfortable telling the guy to change the music, and that's how Moose started opening himself to have an honest conversation with Joshua, and he felt like a huge weight lifted off him. Part of him wished that Sam and the other guys were there so he could tell them stuff about the moments in his life that shape the way he acted now, they had shared that with him, and he wanted to reciprocate. A little over eleven hours they finally made to NY and both of them were tired, in high spirits but clearly in need of rest, they left the car and walked a couple of blocks to this guys apartment.

After going up the stairs to the third floor, Joshua knock on a door, and when it open a tall, muscular shirtless guy stood there smiling at them, and Moose felt a little inadequate; this guy must have girls drooling over him in a daily basis. Both boys hug each other while Moose was standing there awkwardly watching them talked and ignore him until the boy turned and apologized to him for that. He introduced himself as Ty and invite him to walk into the apartment soon the guy was giving them bottles of water while showing them the place.

"So, how is my sister? She told me she had a small gig, so she was not going to be able to come visit, I guess she is very busy lately.?" The guy ended looking straight at Joshua like he was ready to tear apart any answer he gave him if he wasn't satisfied with it. However, Joshua didn't even blink while telling the guy that indeed his sister was busy but doing just fine also he added that she wasn't dating anybody and that when she did Joshua would make sure they were decent guys.

Ty laughed hard and told Joshua that his sister was going to punch him if she heard him saying that because she didn't like people meddling in her life. When his laugh had disappeared, he turned toward Moose and asked him if he knew Cam, and he found himself shaking his head but wondering who the girl was. They spent the rest of the afternoon joking around, and Moose got to hear more stories about Cam and how she and Joshua had grown up together with Ty as the big brother figure for both of them, although in reality, he was only Cam's brother. Luke came into his mind, and soon he found himself wondering if Ty had the same relationship with Joshua he had had with Luke. By the end of the day, though he understood that it wasn't the case, Joshua and Cam never dated and even when Joshua had a crush on Cam, and vice-versa Ty had helped them realized their true feelings without getting in the middle of their relationship.

Moose love to hear about this opinionated girl that when she was younger was a tomboy, she would go out with the boys and played ball and dance with his brothers, yes she considered Joshua, a brother too. Later on, she stopped doing many things with them but would challenge them to any kind of competition when they accused her of being too girly and would usually win. Ty invited the guys to go out to eat, but Moose declined because he was too tired. They showed him Cam's room and told him to get settled when he asked where Joshua would sleep they told him that he would be using Ty's bedroom because he was spending the night at his girlfriend apartment.

Once he was alone, his curiosity made him analyze the things that were around the room, and he soon was trying to find a photo of the girl that was getting more interesting for him by the minute. She had a lot of books from the most various subjects, a long list of various songs was pin to a board on her wall next to another one of movies. Pictures of different places all over the world were taped to the wall some with inspirational words; he recognized most of the places because they were places he wanted to go at some point of his life too. He laid that night on the bed feeling a little uncomfortable and nervous wondering why he was so excited about seeing so many things that gave him some senses of curiosity and why he was starting to wonder so much about this girl.

He promised himself that he was going to stop thinking about that girl and his first step was to offer Joshua that he would sleep on the couch and he could have the room, the boy seemed taken aback, but Moose assure him that it was because he felt weird being in another's person bedroom. The rest of the week he would learn more things about Cam, but he successfully avoid looking at any picture of her, he tried to convince himself that it was his choice and not that the boys never offer to show him one. His time at New Yok was great he got to see so many places that he had always dreamed of knowing and he also went to see the presentation of the project he had devoted so many hours with his friends.

To his joy, the project was given the green light to continue, and he got to meet some people that told him that if he continue on this path, he would have a place with them when he finished school. Moose really hope that what they were saying would turn out to be true because he would love to go back there and work with them in the future. At the end of the break, they went back to their school, and Moose started to change slowly in the way he would interact with his friends he now open up to some of them because he also understood that not everybody needed to be his friend either.

One afternoon he came back to his apartment and when he opened the door he saw Sam, Joshua, Michael, Carla and Jane talking with their laptops over their laps and an almost empty box of pizza on the table. He smiled at the scene that was common in his apartment and in Sam's and Joshua's too, dropping his backpack on the floor he said hello to everyone and proceeded to grab a slice of pizza sitting down next to Joshua who as always was trying to flirt with Jane. Poor guy, he had no chance with her, Moose didn't know much about her, but he did know that she was not interested in Joshua.

Everyone started bouncing ideas of off him; he wasn't into coding, but he did know enough sometimes to be helpful when his friends got stuck on an idea. When he finished giving them some ideas most of them told him that they wouldn't work which shocked him and so he asked them how did they know that. "Well Cam, already tried all of them that is why we are stuck."

"Cam?" Moose felt his blood leave his face and his palms started to sweat at the thought that the girl had been in his apartment when he saw that there was a laptop on the table that didn't belong to anyone. Joshua and Sam seemed to pick up on the sudden change on him, and the first one told him that they were talking about Ty's sister.

"Remember we stayed at her apartment in the winter break."He made that last remark as a joke trying to defuse the situation, but he was cut short to continue the joke when a someone came out of the bathroom.

"So you are the famous Moose who found my room too personal to sleep in?" Moose turned slowly, and a beautiful petite brunette was standing next to him with her arms cross, but her eyes gave her joke away and soon she was giggling and offering her hand to Moose introducing herself to him. The second he touched her hand he could feel her all over himself it was like she had invaded him completely by a simple gesture and if he was not wrong, he had some effect on her too because both of them let the handshake linger.

If the other people in the room notice they didn't comment on it and when they finally let go neither of them made a move, so they just stayed in front of each other like they were trying to figure out each other out. Finally, Jane made a comment about how they were going to have to stay there forever if they didn't figure the problem out and Cam seemed to snap out of whatever they were sharing and grab her laptop looking for a place to sit. Moose told her to go back to her old seat, and he went into his room and collapsed face down on his bed groaning, wondering what just happened?

For him, there were only minutes, but when Michael came into his room, he was informed that it had been three hours since he had walked out of the living room and everyone had left. Moose sat up quickly part of him wishing he hadn't missed the opportunity to talk to Cam but the other part congratulated him for not giving into a possible horrible experience again. Michael notices that Moose seemed to be a million miles away but still mention that they were going to go out tomorrow and that he was invited to join them.

Moose didn't plan to go he wasn't ready to be open to anything with Cam and part of him knew that if he kept in contact with her, he was not going to be able to stop having something with her. The next night against his better judgment Moose found himself getting ready and going to the bar where his friends were waiting for him. To his disappointment when he got to the table Cam wasn't there, so he just sat down in the only available chair and started talking to Sam when her voice startled him.

"You really like taking my seat, don't you? I mean is fine I can get another chair, but I'm worried this is going to become a habit for you." He couldn't stop the smile that came to his face when he heard her voice and the playfulness that he could sense in it.

"How can you proof this is your seat? I walked here, and this seat was empty, and I don't see your jacket here or anything that would have let me believe this chair was occupied." He gave her a sly smile that she returned and he knew then he was a goner, that smile gave his heart a run for his money. They spent a little more time bantering until Sam put a chair in the middle of them and told them to sit down and turned to talked to his girlfriend, Cam turned a very cute shade of pink and Moose started to clean his throat.

Soon they joined the group conversation, and Moose started sharing stories about his past making it a point to make Cam share some of hers to his joy she seemed more than ok with that. Joshua would make comments about some of them, and she would retaliate, and all the group would take sides making jokes. Honestly, Moose felt a little uncomfortable about the exchange between them it seemed too intimate, and he wanted badly to be in Joshua's place. He used this to start building walls against Cam; maybe she just liked flirting with guys but in the middle of his reasoning she gently put her hand over his and asked him if he was ok.

He was afraid to look at her because his walls weren't completely up, but when she asked again and gave his hand a squeeze Moose couldn't stop himself and turned. That night he walked Cam to her apartment talking about a million things and that scene repeated itself for a lot of weeks, after almost two months of sharing walks, dinners, and get-togethers Moose was scared. It shouldn't be so easy for him just to start opening himself to this type of feelings but as the days passed by it was getting harder and harder for him not to kiss Cam when she gave that cute smile after he made a silly joke.

Moose was laying on his bed one afternoon when the door opened, and Sam appeared with a box of pizza announcing him that the guys were going to watch the game, so he needed to go to the living room. He was so used to the guys getting into his apartment that he didn't even question how they were there when Michael was in class at this time. They watched the game making some comments, Michael joined them a little later and joined the fun until it went into halftime and then Moose noticed how all the guys turned his way crossing their arms.

"What's going on? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" he felt a little nervous about the three of them looking at him as if they were about to accused him of something and he wasn't too far from the truth. Joshua asked him when was he going to make a move on Cam and Moose was glad that he wasn't drinking anything because he would have spit whatever it was all over the place. He tried to play it cool, but he was pretty sure that his face gave away how he was feeling. He had a second to decide if he was going, to be honest, or he was going to try to duck the question but looking around Moose noticed that he was surrounded by three boys that he honestly consider his friends.

Sam noticed his hesitation and decided to give him time to process. "Look we all know how awful your last relationship was, but you need to understand that a new one is not going to be like that necessarily. You now understand what you did wrong and Cam is definitely not like your ex-girlfriend and we are your friends, so you are not alone if things don't work out."

That last part made Moose realized that it was true that his life had changed and it didn't matter that he was still in the same city, he was a different person and now he had people behind him. "Ok, I'll admit I was afraid to start something with her because I don't want to go back to what I thought was a good relationship just to realize years later that I was never happy."

They talked for a while and the next morning he went to find Cam at her earliest class to surprise her with an invitation to go out with him that night. Cam smiled brightly at him and said yes and that's how hours later they found themselves going into their usual dinner laughing at some lame joke he was telling her with the only purpose to see her smile. By the time they were ready to leave Moose had decided to be completely open about his feelings for her and the reasons it had taken him so much time to come clean with them. So while they walk to his favorite park he started telling Cam about his past relationship with Casie, he had talked about it before but never at length, but that night he needed her to understand him completely.

Cam behavior towards him during his story made him felt a little more in love with her; she looked at him with such kindness and understanding that he felt stupid for not telling her all of this the second he met her. When he finally finished, he got impossibly closer to her and told her how happy he would be if they could write a new chapter of his life together and when he saw that she was starting to nod he just went on and kissed her for the longest time. That kiss went on for a while, and it seemed like both of them were trying to make it last longer but the need for air won over their desire to stay in the moment forever, and they smile at each other while recovering their breath.

Things were simpler from that moment on for them. Cam wasn't demanding she understood that he needed time for his things, and so did she but Moose always tried to see her daily no matter the time like he used to do with Casie. The only difference was that this time it was because he felt the need to see Cam to have an extra reason to smile everyday and not out of an obligation. A couple of days before they would celebrate their second month anniversary Moose and Cam were alone in his apartment, and things were escalating rather quickly. Cam was sitting on Moose's lap kissing her boyfriend's neck making him made some very pleasant noise while he had his hands under her blouse when the door suddenly open and Joshua and Michael enter the apartment.

Moose stood up so quickly that Cam was thrown to the side of the couch making the other boys chuckle but also worry about Cam's safety. She was about to asked him what was wrong when she noticed that he was looking at Joshua with a worry expression. Luckily she didn't need to wait for an explanation since a second later Moose was pleading with the boy not to tell Ty about what he saw because he didn't want Cam to be in trouble. Joshua and Cam exchange a look before they both started laughing. "Moose be cool. I would never tell Ty something like this, you and Cam are adults, and as long as she is into doing things with you I have no say in the situation and neither does Ty."

The boy seemed confuse and grateful at the same time; he slowly realized that he was really living an entirely new situation. He then turned worried that Cam was mad at him about the way he had reacted but she soon was next to him and taking him by the hand she made him followed her into his room to continue what they were doing, and he was more than happy to comply. By the time they were going to celebrate their six months together, he had decided that it would be nice to introduce her to his parents and even though she seemed shocked she was also very happy that he was finally showing her a little more about his past.

His mom was over the moon that Moose had finally decided to bring this girl that had change his view on relationships and when she met Cam she understood why her son like the girl so much. She was cooking something special for them when she realized that she was missing some ingredients. Moose told her that Cam and he would go out to get them for her.

"Why don't you leave her here so I can talk to her a little more?" His mom asked him with the most innocent face she could muster, but he knew the woman was planning a full-on interrogation on his girlfriend the second he was out of the house.

He raised an eyebrow at his mom before answering her "Because I like her enough not to let you drawn her in questions and don't even denied that you were planning on doing that because I know you, mom."

The woman made a dismissive sign with her hand, but Moose could see that she was impressed with his deduction of the situation. " I would never. Now go on to the market or we are only eating some crackers for dinner."

The trip to the market took longer than expected because he just had to show Cam all the places he used to play when he was younger, she was laughing so hard at his stories and the way he would act them out for her that neither of them noticed that they were being watched. Finally, at the store they picked the items on the list one by one until they were just looking for some sauce his mom was pretty much addicted to when a voice from his past startle him. Luke's mom appeared in front of him accompanied by no other than Casie both women make a point to give Cam a once over and then completely ignore her while asking Moose about himself.

He handled that encounter in the worst way possible, for starters he didn't say anything about the way they had looked at Cam or even made a move to introduce her to them. Moose talked to them for a while until they said their goodbyes and Casie made a point to give him a lingering kiss on the cheek while staring to where Cam was still waiting for an introduction that never came. Once they went away and Moose's brain activated again, he tried to apologize, but Cam told him to stop. "We should get to your house your mom needs this to cook."

The ride back to his house and the entire dinner occur in complete silent between them; Cam would politely answer his mom questions, but aside from that she wouldn't open her mouth or even look his way. Any plan Moose had to apologize to her went out the window when at the end of the lunch an Uber came to picked up Cam while she excused herself saying that she was needed in the city and thought it better to go alone so Moose could stay longer with them. After she left his mom turned towards him with an angry expression. "Ok, what did you do to that poor girl? She was so sweet when you arrived, and you were so cute together, and after you had come back from the market it was like you had the plague, and she couldn't get away fast enough."

Moose groaned loudly at the eloquent description his mom had about the situation and only manage to say four words. "Casie and her mom."

His mom didn't need more information to understand Cam's reaction, but she was still pissed with her son. That girl had ruined Moose's life for years, and now she was ruining his future, Moose stayed that night at his childhood home wondering why he had acted as he did. He woke up early the next morning and sent a text to Cam asking her if it was ok for him to called her or if she preferred he would go looking for her. He didn't want to seem pushy, so he gave her choices but either way, she would be talking to him before the end of the day.

Cam send a text telling him to call her, and he didn't miss a beat before doing it, and when she picked up he started to apologize, she seemed calm now and told him that she had overreacted, but the situation had been very awkward for her. "If now that you have seen her again you rather end things with me I understand. Please don't worry about losing me or any of the guys as friends. We would never do that to you Moose, but I would prefer if you think about this before you give me an answer."

He wanted to answer her at that moment that there was nothing left between him and Casie but she insist on him taking some time, and so he agreed and ended the phone call. After showering and eating breakfast he said goodbye to his parents and the suburbs and went back on his way to the city and to Cam's place. Moose run up the stairs until he was in front of her door and Kirsten, Cam's roommate, open the door looking like she was just waking up. She informed him that Cam was at Sam's apartment finishing some project and Moose noticed that she was pleasant to him which mean that Cam didn't say anything about what had happened with him yesterday.

Soon he was on his way to his friend's apartment and without losing any time he let himself in when he arrived and found the usual scene developing in front of his eyes except that this time there wasn't a half empty pizza in the middle of the table but a box full of bagels. Before Cam could say anything to him, he said a quick hello to all and took her hand leading her to Sam's room ignoring the protest from the boy saying that he didn't want any funny business in his room. Once inside he looked Cam straight in her eyes, and he could see the doubt in them, he saw how Cam wasn't sure what was going to happened next, and he felt bad for making her doubt him.

"I love you, Cam. I'm sorry about what happened yesterday I didn't mean to make you feel bad is just that those people make me go back to being that kid that was always afraid to do something that would cause him trouble. I used to love being part of that family, but I never realize that I always felt like I needed to proof to them that I was worth it and a real family never makes you do that. So could we forget that they exist and can we go on with us?" He didn't notice the surprise in her eyes at first, but then he understood that this was the first time he had said that he love her.

Before he could add to what he had said she was kissing him and telling him that she loved him too between kisses. They soon found their way to Sam's bed, but before things could go further, the boy was pounding on the door telling them that he wasn't kidding about the funny business in his room making the couple laugh. Months became years, and before they even know it they were about to graduate with their friends, after a year of dating they had decided to move in together, and the future seemed bright for the couple. Both of them had received offers to stay in town and work in good companies everything was settled for them until a week before graduation Professor Mars contacted Moose telling him that the company they had worked with for their first project was interested in him for a job.

Moose was excited about the prospect of working with them; the only issue was that the job was in New York City. His first instinct was to tell Cam about the job opportunity, but he decided against it because there was still a chance that he would not get the job, sure they offer, but nothing was written in stone. The professor offered him a paid trip to the city so he could discuss this option and he took it, it was just two days in the city he told Cam that the professor had asked him for a favor and that he would only be two days away. She knew how much the man meant to Moose so she understood why he would choose to go.

To his surprise, he got the job and even and offer to help him settle in the city, but he needed to move before graduation to lead a new development project. That day he went back home and told Cam the real reason why he had flown to the New York and she was confused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to tell you in case this was just some meeting where they were not going to offer me the job honestly but now they did offer me the job and is exactly what I was looking for." He continued to tell her about the project and with every word that came out of his mouth she knew that he was going to take it, to her surprise he told her that he had already taken the job and that he was moving away in less than a week.

"But what is going to happen to us?" It was an honest question she felt like he was changing all their plans without even consulting her and even though she didn't like the way he had lie to her deep down she understood that this job was important to him. Cam just needed him to say that they could make it work, they were not the only couple that had a long distance relationship, and she was sure that if they apply themselves to it, they could be successful.

However the second she made that question Moose was suddenly thrown back to when he was starting to apply to colleges and Casie would try to discourage him, and he saw red. He was not going to let anyone else manipulate his future no matter how much he loves Cam he was not going to give up on his dream to go to New York and made a life for himself, and so he told her. Even when she tried to talk, he continued to tell her that she was not going to change his mind and that the best thing for them would be to break up if she was not going to be supportive.

Cam told him that she didn't mean to say that he couldn't go, she was just wondering how would they make it work but again in his mind the scenes of a young Moose giving up his dreams to go to college on another state replay and he got angrier by the second. Before he even understood what was going on he had broken up with Cam and was packing his things telling her that he would send someone for the rest of his stuff.

Months later when his friends went to visit him at his place in New York, he would replay that moment with them, and finally, clarity let him see that he had blame Cam for things she never did. Every time they had an issue, he would just assume she was going to behave like Casie and would blow things out of proportion, usually, he would go back, and she was patient enough to listen to his apology and accept it. This time he didn't go back because he knew he had cross a line that had no returned, Joshua never talk about Cam or the incident from her perspective with him but he could sense that the boy blamed him for his friends heart getting broken.

After a couple of years of working in New York, he went back to his city to visit his parents and he couldn't stop himself and went looking for Cam but she was no longer there. He called Sam, who was now living in Seattle, and he told Moose that the girl had found a better job in another city a while back, and she decided to move, but he didn't tell Moose what city it was. Moose understood he really didn't have the right to know more about her after the way he had ended things. On that trip though he finally had some closure when he saw Casie and Luke when he went to his parent's house, they were laughing on their garden like they used to when they were all kids.

For a second they exchange looks, and he was about to move on when Luke called him over, Moose went over to their yard but stood outside in the street. The other boy tried to talk to him while Casie kept staring at him, Moose was pleasant enough with both of them but was quick to say goodbye. Before he could get into his house, Casie came behind him and told him that maybe they could go out together to reminisce. " That would be a horrible idea; I rather forget whatever it was that we have. Don't kid yourself, Casie, neither of us was happy back then. The best thing for us is to be cordial and keep it at that."

The girl was shocked by his response and threaten him about telling Luke about how he was mean to her just like she used to do when they were younger, but this time Moose told her that he couldn't care less what her brother thought about him. A couple of days later when he went back home, Moose got an email from Sam telling him that he was getting marry and that he like the rest of the gang were invited to his wedding.

Moose smile at the thought of seeing his friends again, in the email Sam had attached an old photo of them together, and he didn't miss the fact that in that photo, in particular, he had his arm around Cam. He sent a quick email to Sam asking if everyone was going to go and the reply made his day.

"EVERYONE IS COMING ;) "

He was going to see her again, and boy was he ready to make things right this time.

 **Notes**

Here it is, two down and only one more to go. So what do you all think? I hope you like this because is almost 2am and I couldn't stop writing this so I'm excited for your opinions. Sorry about any errors but like I said is late but my brain needed to tell this story.


	3. Chapter 3

From the time he received that email Moose was going into overdrive trying to think how he was going to act when he finally saw Cam again, in his preparation he decided that it was time for him to search for more details about the girl. He logged on to Facebook and taking a deep breath he went searching for her page; he remembered how in the midst of his anger he had erased her from his friends and blocked any way of communication with her. Still, after he knew she was no longer in Chicago he tried to look for her, but he discovered that she had erased him too and that her profile was now private and her picture was no longer one of them together smiling at the camera but one of a fountain. Moose decided then that he had already made up his mind about his relationship with Cam and he shouldn't be trying to make more out of it so at that time he searched no more.

Now years later Moose tried to see if maybe he had missed some clue about where she was at this point of her life. He was sure that he wanted to be with her again, but he also wasn't sure if maybe Cam had moved on or simply wasn't interested in having something with him. Moose decided that he was going to limit the search because he didn't want to go down the rabbit hole in his quest of looking for her especially now that he was sure he was going to see her in a couple of months. Every day he would sit and dedicate one hour to search his friend's walls to see any photo of her from the past years and every time he found one he would stare at it for a while trying to determine if he could read her mood from it like he used to do when he saw her at any point of her life. To give himself extra boundaries he decided that he would arrive an hour early or stayed an hour later at work so he would only use his work computer to do the search. Moose knew that if he gave himself a chance to go through Facebook at his house, he wouldn't stop at one hour but he would go on and on. Moose´s work proof an obstacle for him when he tried to go through his friend's pages due to the amount of it he had at that time of the year. His project was going fine, but he started to worry that he was not going to be able to have enough time to spend before the wedding with his friends. Sam had written to him that he wanted all of them to be in Seattle for a week before the wedding at least so they could reconnect.

Moose smiled when he looked at his friend page where his main picture was one of Sam and Carla smiling at the camera showing her ring, to think that they had been together for so many years. He remembered going on double dates with them and talked to Cam about how they could totally have a double wedding with them making her blush and laugh at the same time. Quickly he went down the pages and soon saw an old conversation between Sam, Joshua, and Michael about what they were going to do for the long weekend. Honestly, Moose was a little jealous that his friend had managed to stay in closer contact and have get together´ s regularly, due to the relatively short distance between their cities, sure they always told him to visit them and they made a point to travel to new York at least once a year to see him but it wasn't the same.

Michael had a great opportunity to help with a start-up company that thankfully was doing ok and was getting better. He moved to Portland a year after they finished school and was planning to arrive in Seattle a week before the wedding to joined the festivities. Sam and Joshua had made it on their own, their continues projects had put them in a comfortable position and they had decided to move to Seattle and their company was doing more than ok. They were planning to sell the company in about two years, and they were already developing what would be their next big idea, sure they weren't in a snapchat, Instagram kind of developing but still people were interested in their projects and they were more than ok with that. The girls were also working on their field, some for big companies and others on their own projects, and again he wondered what was Cam doing now.

Time flew by and soon enough the wedding was only a week away, and he had managed to gather enough photos to have a folder in his computer full of Cam's pics which he looked at daily practicing his future conversations with the girl. Sam and the rest of the guys had created a chat for them to share their schedules with each other so they could plan their week and Moose was getting depressed by all the plans that he was not going to be able to join. The amount of work had double in the past few weeks, but he had made it clear to everyone at his job that he was not going to miss the wedding of his friend. Sam had decided that his wedding was going to be on a Monday which was the weirdest thing ever, but he wanted and excused only to have the people he wanted at his wedding, and so many of the unwanted once had declined because of the day that it was obvious the idea was working. Now, some still accepted but as Sam put it " If they are so eager to come then I can accept them knowing that this is an inconvenience for them.

Moose remember Sam as one of the nicest guys he ever met but to hear him say something like that made him extra happy to be on his good side. Soon the week started and the pictures started invading his phone, and he was quick to look for Cam, she didn't appear until Tuesday, and she looked beautiful as always. He really love the picture that Sam had send him as a favor, yes Sam knew about what Moose had planned, and he was glad that his friend was finally going to do something about his relationship with Cam. The photo was of Carla and Cam standing in front of a mural, and both of them were pointing to it like they were models in a game show. He decided then that he was going to try to fly on Thursday no matter what, so he stayed at his office working until it was Thursday at 10 am when he informed everyone that he would be seeing them next week and went on his way to his apartment for his luggage. He took a quick shower, change and grabbed his suitcase and soon he was on his way to the airport looking forward to seeing all his friends and his hopefully future fiancé.

Arriving in Seattle, Moose felt anxious he went to left his things at the hotel, and he took a picture of himself there informing the group that he had arrived. Michael was the first to respond and told him that he would be going to pick him up, and Moose felt himself starting to feel nauseous, and he prayed that he wasn't going to get ill. An hour later when his former roommate knocked on his door, they embraced in a brotherly hug, and Moose felt relieved. Michael started talking about how everyone was basically the same they were in college and how much he loved to see everyone together now after all those years. "We were talking about how this was going to be the first time in years that you were going to be with of all us at the same time. Sure, you have been with the guys, but the ladies are here too now. Can you believe that Joshua and Jane are dating?"

Moose stopped in his track and turned. "Wait, what? Are you saying that Jane gave Joshua a chance?" Moose started laughing non-stop, and Michael joined in, both of them had been witnesses of their friend pretty much stalking the girl for years just for her to say no like that was the only word she knew. Apparently, things had changed since last year when he saw Joshua last, even though his friend was honest about not leaving him behind after his relationship with Cam ended he also felt like they weren't as close as they used to be. Joshua dating Jane and him hearing about it from Michael and not his friend was proof that they weren't as in tune as they used to be. The small talked with Michael made him think back to the time when they all used to hang out in bars while dreaming about their future and how they were going to rule the world.

Michael soon guided him to a restaurant and once inside he didn't need for his friend to tell him where the rest of the group was because a burst of laughter came from a corner and he could see all of his friends there. His eyes searched for Cam for a second and soon found her sitting between two guys, one of them was Joshua, but he didn't know the other one, and he could feel himself getting tense, and his stomach started getting into knots. Who was that guy? Maybe he was silly thinking that there was a chance for him to win back Cam? He felt himself being guided to the table and soon enough his friends were standing up and greeting him.

Joshua hug him, and after letting him go, Jane came into his line of vision and while he hugged her Joshua mouthed to him that they were dating with a huge smile on his face. Moose just raise his thumb congratulating his friend on finally getting the girl of his dreams, Jane let go and he let her go, and in a quiet voice, she told him to be careful about what he was planning to do next. That startle him, but at this point, Jane had moved on to the side, and Moose found himself face to face with Cam, she looked beautiful, but he could see that Cam was avoiding looking into the eyes.

Moose wasn't sure how to behave himself with Cam, if he was honest and gave free range to his feelings he would hug her and ask for a chance to redeem himself, they would talk and tried to fix things up. She seemed hesitant at first, but Sam was behind her, and he whispered something in her ear making her smile, she took a step forward and gave him a quick hug asking him how he was. He was speechless, and she moved to the side and before he could answer he was being hugged by Carla and finally Sam. The last one told him to pull his act together and then let him go inviting him to sit with them at the table, quickly the rest of them went back to their chairs and Moose wasn't sure where he was going to be. Sam disappeared for a second and came back with a chair which he put next to Carla leaving a space for Moose between her and Joshua, Moose sat there and found himself just a person away from Cam.

His first instinct was to listen as much as possible to her conversation with the people around trying to piece together her situation at the moment. Also, he wasn't sure what part did the guy sitting to her other side played in her life, he badly needed to at least know that for him to relax a little. Carla tried to tell him something, to made him part of a conversation but he kept losing the flow of the conversation because he just wanted to know more about Cam. His friend got tired of this and called the other girl out making the other conversation that was going on at that point between Cam and the people around her stop. The brunette seemed taken aback but just asked Carla what she needed, and the soon to be bride asked her how were things with her and Jane´s business. Even though the girl looked confused she answer that things were ok, but they were having some issues with their new development, Sam was quick to offer his and Joshua´s help if they needed something which bring a smile to the girls face.

The conversation helped Moose discover that Cam had worked in Chicago until last year, the year before that she had decided to break on her own but was still preparing what would be her main project. Jane had been working with another company for several years, but once she heard Cam wanted to do something on her own, she didn't wait a second before calling her friend. Together they started developing an app they had started at college and in less than a year they had made it happened, and that was when Cam had left her old job and move. Now at this point, Moose was dying to know if the information of where she had relocated when she finally said it.

She had moved to San Francisco and was living with Jane both girls high five at their amazing luck to be together and he smiled at the camaraderie on the table, but he was still wondering who the guy sitting next to Cam was. Giving up on getting the information by himself he turned towards Carla and Sam, and whispering asked them if any of them knew the guy that was sitting next to Cam, he didn't miss the smile the couple share before answering. "That's Carla's cousin, Josh, he lives in Portland, but Cam and Jane gave him a ride to the wedding. I think he likes Cam because he insisted in seating next to her wherever we go out."

Moose stuck his tongue out to Sam making the couple laughed and soon they started talking about their plans and how the actual ceremony was going to be. He was informed that he was going to be a groomsman and he was going to walk into the church with one of the girls, Moose's eyes twinkle making the couple laughed again. Carla cleared her throat to make her voice more stable and started trying to get everyone's attention. "Hey, guys if you could give me your attention for a minute. We want to tell you how much we appreciate that you are here with us. We know that on the schedule we gave you for the week this afternoon was supposed to be spent at the space needle, but we have decided to do it later on. Now we want you to join us at this park near here where there is supposed to be this little fair of local artisans, don't worry they sell food too. So there is something for everyone, let's go shopping!"

They went to the fair in little groups discussing their lives; sure they stayed in contact, but there were some details that escape the occasional weekend update. Laughs and stories fill their way to the fair and even when they were there the groups would change sizes and participants, at some points, the girls would go on their own and then again the groups would mix. The entire afternoon, Moose found himself in the same group as Cam at least six times, ok exactly six times he was well aware of that, and even though he had enough opportunities to talk to her he always froze. In his mind, he still thought that he was playing it cool by paying enough attention to the conversation so he could laugh on cue or said yeah when needed. Once again that was what he thought was going on. They finally left the fair after having some dinner at the food trucks which proof to be one of the best experiences he had in his culinary life.

On their way back to the hotel Michael was next to him in a second asking him about his life in New York; he wasn't sure about what exactly because he was focusing on the fact that Cam was walking with Josh laughing at something. He was so busy following them that he didn't notice Michael giving up on their conversation and stand back with Jane, Joshua, and Marla talking about their plans for later that night. He also didn't notice when Jane broke out from the group and went to his side; he did notice though when she looped her arm around his. "Hey there. So you need to stop looking at her like that because you are making her uncomfortable."

He stopped in his tracks pulling Jane with him and asked her if she was honest, and the girl nodded. "How am I making her nervous? I've barely spoken to her. I haven't talked to her at all actually, because I freeze the second she is near me. So please tell me how exactly am I making her uncomfortable?"

Jane held his arm harder and started walking making him move with her; she didn't want the last group with the rest of their friends to be near them when she told him about what she had noticed. "You know the freezing is one of the things that are making her uncomfortable. However, the real issue is how you keep staring at her like she is the only source of water in the desert even the rest of the wedding party that doesn't know the story of you guys knows that there is something going on. Talk to her Moose if she doesn't want to talk to you at least know that things are over."

He stopped again and turned toward her but before he could ask her what she knew about the situation Joshua was putting his arm around Jane's shoulder and asking what they were talking about and Moose wasn't sure what to say. Jane told him to stop being so curious and told both boys that she was going to have something at the bar of the hotel and invited them to go with them. Joshua apparently dropped the subject, and when they made it to the hotel they went straight into the bar, Cam and Josh didn't join them and that sour Moose's mood but he managed to have a good time with his friends.

Friday was uneventful although he made a point of stopping, or at least lessen, the amount of time he stared at Cam and ever so often he would turn to see if Jane was checking up on him. That night they all went dancing at the club, but they make it a point not to dance as couples but more as a group. At one point, however, Moose found himself in front of Cam dancing and he didn't miss the chance to spent an extra amount of time with her. On Saturday morning they were all going on to the market to buy ingredients for a big barbecue they were planning on doing in Sam's and Carla's house, they went as a group, but soon everyone was going in different directions. He was looking for some things to eat when he found himself picking things that he knew Cam would also like just to make it a point to her that he was still interested in her.

When they were at the house again, he helped put things to the grill while having a great time with the boys even Josh joined in and to his dismay the dude was cool. He wasn't sure if he should be asking about his intentions with Cam, but the decision was made for him when the girls arrived with salads and other stuff and putting everything on the table to later on summoned the guys to sit with them. This time Moose wait for Cam to sit down and he made a point to sit next to her startling her a little but finally, she smiled at him. Josh, however, gave him the evil eye because Jane had already sat next to the other side of Cam and Michael and Joshua were sitting in front of the girls.

He started talking a little with her noticing that at first, she seemed reluctant to have a conversation with just him but as time passed by both of them relax and enjoy each other company. The best for him was when he started showing her all the different things he had bought knowing that she might enjoy them for the longest time Cam looked at him with this secretive smile that she used to give him and only him and he felt his stomach doing flips. Josh choose that exact moment to come next to them and ask Cam to go for a little walk with him so they could sight-see like they had planned to do the day before when he said that part though he gave Moose another look like challenging him to say something.

Moose wanted nothing more to say something in the lines of "Back off dude. Cam and ME we are meant to be." But of course he couldn't say anything like that at least not at this moment, he hoped that shortly he could say that or kiss Cam making it a point to look mockingly at the guy. Who was he kidding he would be so focused on the kissed that he wouldn't even remember the guy existence. Cam nodded and told Josh that she was still eating so maybe they could take that walk a little later, that throw him off, but he tried to hide his disappointment poorly walking away anyway. Moose also failed poorly in hiding his smile at the way Josh was walking away looking defeated sure his smile was short lived when Cam turned and gave him her best "you stop that this instant" look.

True to her word she continued eating and having some light conversation with Jane and the other people closer to them, sure she continued to talk to Moose, but he could sense that their "moment" had passed. Jane stood up to pick something from the kitchen and Josh was suddenly sitting next to Cam asking her about something dumb just to make conversation so when Jane came back, she had to go another chair which pissed Joshua a lot. Josh acted like he hadn't noticed what he had caused, so Joshua told him that it wasn't ok to that, a little embarrass he stood up, and Jane was able to go back to her seat, but the mood was sour already.

Minutes later Cam excused herself and went on to look for Josh so they could have that walked, and Jane told Joshua that they should do the same. Everyone clear the table and Moose went back to his hotel and decided to clear his head while playing video games but his mind didn't want him to let go of Cam. Moose didn't even go to sleep until the next day, when he went down at seven am he decided to have a big breakfast and send a quick text to Sam telling him that he was going to miss the morning's activities cause he needed to rest. Twelve hours later Moose woke up feeling physically better but mentally exhausted; he had been thinking about Cam and how she had left with Josh the day before.

Moose had dated random girls for no more than a month since he had split with Cam, but he hated to think that she had done the same. The reason wasn't that he wanted to think that he was the only man in her life, he was well aware that Cam had a life before knowing him. Heck, he also had a life before Cam, but he had enjoyed his life much more when he share it with her and part of him hoped that she had enjoyed that part much more too. Nowadays seeing her with another guy talking like she used to talk with him, maybe not like she used to talk to him but still, hurt him a little and make him wonder what her life was like when he knew nothing of her. Did Cam fall in love with someone else? He had like some girls it that time, but he hadn't felt in love with any of them, and he was sure of that because looking back at his relationship with Cam he understood that she had been the only girl he had truly love.

He joined the group at a restaurant with a clear mind and purpose to have a talk, an honest one, with Cam about them or the possibility of them. They were going to a semi-formal place, so he put on his sneakers, black jeans a shirt and a jacket, his hair was a mess, but he didn't mind it, and he was sure the rest of his friends wouldn't care about it either. Moose was supposed to be there at 7:30 but waking up at seven he was half an hour late to the restaurant, he did send a text to Sam telling him that he was running late. Once at the restaurant, he was sure that the hostess was trying to see if he was well dressed enough to go in, but he was clever enough to smooth talk his way in, he was no player, but he could compete with the best of them. Finally, at the table, everyone greeted him although he noticed that Josh wasn't as excited as the rest of them to see him joined, that was Josh's issue, not his, and he didn't intend to feel anything about it.

Jane motion him to come to her side and he smiled at his friends, Moose said hi to everyone and made a point to thank Sam and Carla for being so understanding about him missing out on their activities, both of them said not to worry about it. Cam and Josh were sitting two seats away from them, but he could feel that she was trying to see how he was acting when he said hi to her he gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek and saw the blush spread which gave him the strength to asked her what he was dying to know . "We need to talk later, ok?"

When he move away from her leaving the question unanswered Moose saw Cam's eyes searching for the reason behind his question but his expression was guarded. He shook Josh's hand before moving on to sit next to Jane and started to talk with them about what they have been up that day and some of the stories made him laughed. He had blocked out of his memories how much he enjoyed spending time with this group of people, and he hoped that his life would lead him eventually to move near them because he would love to have more evenings like this in the future with or without Cam by his side. They stayed there for hours until the waitress told them that they needed to get out because they were going to close the place they tried to look ashamed but once outside they burst into a fit of laughter.

Walking back to the hotel they starting goofing off like they used to do, Moose jumped on Joshua's back making the boy almost fall, but both of them were laughing harder than they had in years. Sam and Michael caught up with them and soon they were having a race while the girls were calling them immature but at the same cheering them on. Josh and the other guys on the wedding party joined, and everyone was having a great time until Carla announced that they needed to go to sleep because the wedding was later on the day. Moose and the rest of the gang said goodbye wishing each other a good few hours of sleep when he was in his room he closed the door and dropping his head against it he released a sigh. He had dropped the ball enormously with the entire Cam issue; he had been so brave when he arrived at the restaurant but as time passed by his bravery diminish, and at the end of the dinner he was afraid of talking to her.

It was three am went he went to bed the wedding was at noon, so he put three alarms, one at 9, one at 10 and the last one at 10:30 because he was sure he was going to need a lot of helped to get up. What Moose didn't anticipate was the knock on his door that came at 7:30 that jolt him out of bed because of the voice that accompanied it. No matter how tired he was his brain was wired to wake up at the sound of Cam calling his name, it had always worked when they lived together, and she sometimes needed to be helped. Groggily he stood up and walked to the door opening and saying her name, she looked tired, ashamed of waking him up and suddenly extremely red. He didn't know what was the reason for the last one, but he told her to come in, and then he realized that he was shirtless and pant-less, the only thing he had on was his boxer, and he said a small pray that his weekly sessions at the gym were showing off.

Cam moved into the room looking for a place to sit down, to her dismay there was no surface that was free, Moose was a messy person but that room looked like a cloth and technology bomb had exploded in the room. She turned towards the bed while motioning to the room and the mess in general she smiled and chuckled "Really? How can you possibly do this in four days? That's it. You are giving half of your monthly salary to the poor woman or man that has to clean this after you leave."

Moose blushed but try to argue that he was going to clean the place before leaving. "Everything that is on the floor is going back to my suitcase as the rest of things that are all over the room. If you ask me, they should be giving me part of their salary because I put the little sign that says not to clean the room until I leave which gives them extra time for the others room or hobbies."

He went on and on making her laugh harder and harder by the minute until she finally sat on the bed clutching her stomach, Moose felt so happy to be the reason she had that laugh. After she stopped laughing and while she cleaned the tears of laughter that escaped her eyes, Moose started cleaning the chair for him to sit there but Cam shocked him by taking his hand and motioning him to sit next to her. "What did you want to talk to me about yesterday?"

It was now or never, and Moose looked into her eyes and he started talking her to about how sorry he was about the way things had ended between them and for the first time he saw how her eyes look at him with a hardness he had never seen in them. His spirit lessened, but Moose was not going to be discourage to at least tell her all he was feeling and so he move on with his little speech. Cam sat next to him every now and then she would make some comment about something he was telling her about how his perspective had changed with time and space about what happened between. Finally, he was going to start professing his desire to have something with her again, but Cam wasn't dumb she knew what was coming and she stop him and his heart sunk.

"It took me some time to understand what exactly happened between us because for me things were great and then in an instant I was your worst enemy. You hurt me so much with the way you talked and acted toward me back then that if I had seen you back then, I would have hit you, heck even Ty wanted to hit you for what you said to me. A couple of months later I finally understood with some helped that you didn't have that argument with me, but you had it with Casie because once again you assumed that I was her and that I was going to put myself before you. You thought that I would prioritize my interest over yours, and it made me sad to think that even after all those years we were together you didn't realize how different I am from her. When you told me about the job I thought we could make it work but I wanted to hear from you that you wanted to make it work too but all I got was this hate and disappointment about me even asking you. I'm not her; I was never her but the fact that after all that time together you still were just waiting for me to turned into her hurt me." For Moose, that felt worst that if Cam had slapped him in the face repetitively.

Taking her hand in his, he asked for her forgiveness, and when she tried to tell him that it didn't matter he stopped her and told her that no matter the time he was never ok with hurting her. Moose was honest when he said he wished to go back in time to tell himself to realize what took him so little time, later on, to do, Cam was never going to act against his well-being. They talk for a while, and Moose felt worst hearing the pain he had caused her, but he also was glad to have this moment to try and convinced her how much he did regret the entire situation. After the air a felt a little lighter they exchange stories about their life, and Moose lost no chance to make her smile with dumb stories about how he tried to adapt himself to New York city. Cam in exchange told him about her life with Jane and how much she was enjoying this new moment of her life, Moose loved the way her eyes twinkle and how excited she felt about the entire situation she was living.

His alarmed sound effectively scaring both of them making them jump a little closer to each other and Moose used that opportunity to see what would happen if he tried to get closer to her. The next couple of minutes they stayed in the same position neither of them moved away, and their legs were touching and while she continued to tell him how much she loved her new project he found himself fighting the urge to kiss her. His second alarmed made her turned towards his alarmed clock, and when she brought her head back to look at him, they were so close that he couldn't fight the urges anymore and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. Moose made it quick afraid that she was going to push him or screamed at him, but when he left her lips, he noticed her eyes were just closing so he went back in. They kissed slowly for a while; he put his hands on both sides of her face because he was worry that he wouldn't be able to control where they were going to go in the middle of the kiss.

After a couple of minutes he deepened the kiss, and when she let go of a groan, Moose responded with one of his own and slowly move her to laid on his bed, his mind was screaming at him to stop it because this was going too far. Cam seemed to think the same because he could feel her tense and he decided not to laid over her, and so he laid next to her, and she relax again, then his third alarmed went off, and they stopped. The weight of what happened seconds ago dropped on them, and Moose tried with all his mind to find the right words to calm her nerves, but Cam was out of his room in a flash telling him that they were going to be late to the wedding. Moose knew that following her at that moment would be the wrong thing to do so he moved to the bathroom and took a long cold shower. Once at the wedding, he walked with one of Carla sisters and although he would have preferred to be with Cam he understood that this wasn't his moment and so he smiled and was a perfect gentleman to the girl.

Later at the reception, he didn't go after Cam although not doing it was killing him inside but if things went south, he didn't want it to be in his friend's wedding. With his friends, he took photos and in some she was there, and he made mental notes to asked to be tag in each one so he could save them. Michael convinced him to dance with a couple of his friends that were also friends of Carla, and they did a little choreography for a while until he needed to go to the bathroom. When he came back, Jane pulled him to the dance floor, but after one dance she decided to change partners, and he found himself dancing with Cam. His goofy smile rival hers and he whispered in her ear if they could talk about what happened in the morning because if it was ok with her, he wanted several repeats for the rest of his life of the exact same thing. Moose had decided that he was going to be very open about his intentions with Cam and if she didn't want him he rather know that now that in the future. The blush that covered her cheeks and neck made him fill with pride and when she nodded even though it was almost imperceptible he wanted to scream of happiness.

"I do want to see what we would be now but you have a life in New York, and I have one in San Francisco. I don't want you to leave your dreams and I think I'm the right place to develop my business so we can try to see what our life would be like this but we need to take things slow, and I mean it. Today things escalated quickly, and I don't want that to happen again I mean I like what happened but I ..ugh stop looking at me with that smug smile on your face this instant!." Moose chuckled and was about to steal a kiss from her when she stopped him; Cam explained that today was their friends day and she didn't want to do anything to take the attention out of them. He loved how considerate she was, and he acknowledged that she was right about the way she wanted to handle their relationship.

Hours later while laying next to his now naked girlfriend trying to get his breathing to go back to a steady pace after the activities they had shared until a minute ago he wanted to make a joke about her wishes to take things slow, but he didn't want to ruin the mood. Cam slapped his chest and told him that she knew what he was thinking, and they were going to take things slow after this, the laugh that erupted out of him earned him another couple of slaps to his chest. They left the room later to have some lunch and Moose wanted to laugh at Josh's face when he saw them holding hands, and if he could take a picture of that face, he would have used it as his Christmas card. Joshua and Jane joined them for lunch, and both couples were glad to have some time for themselves and made some plans to get together again in a couple of months.

Moose was scheduled to leave for the airport that night, and Cam was gonna drive back home the next morning, he really didn't want to leave his girlfriend, but she told him that it was necessary that he started to get used to it. They needed to see if their relationship was going to work with the distance, she thought they could make it and even though he was sure too he just wanted to follow her to San Francisco and stayed close to her forever. His first week back he kept calling and texting her, he video chat with her during his lunch break or any free time he had, that Friday when they were video chatting he told her he was looking for a plane ticket to go see her that weekend. "Moose you need to stop this ok?. I understand that we are going to make an effort to see each other and I do miss having you near me but I think you are making a much bigger situation out of this. We are not going to be able to do this every week without me telling you off or you becoming annoyed with me."

He would have loved nothing more than to argue but deep down he knew she was right. "I forget how logical and right you are about most of the things we discussed. I do think I need a plan to be sure that I'm making the right effort because if you tell me to chill you know I'll do that and I don't want you to think that I don't want to be with you. Trust me the instant you need me with you I'll be there." Cam smiled at the camera and told Moose that she was sure he was going to do that, and that was one of the reasons she had agree to be with him again.

The proof, he was telling her the truth came when six months later Cam had a car accident and when Jane called Moose to tell him that even though Cam was ok, she was going to spend the night there for observation his mind went into auto mode and Moose knew he needed to with her. Before he had even hung up, he was already online searching for a plane ticket that would take him straight to his injured girlfriend. He sent a quick mail to human resources telling them that he was using a week of his vacation for a family emergency, but he would be available via email. Of course, he knew that if he stayed in the office, they would try and stop him but he was not going to change his mind, so he just went down the street and ran all the way to his apartment. Putting some clothes on his backpack and picking up another one where he kept little presents he picked for Cam whenever he saw something she would love he requested an Uber and went downstairs to wait for it.

Thankfully there was a flight to San Francisco at 9:30 am so if he managed to get to the airport on time he would be there a little later than one pm and then his ride came and he was on his way to the airport. Once he was in the airport running to his gate, he realized that he was going to need to asked Jane what hospital Cam was so he could see his girlfriend. When he sat down at his seat, he realized that the reason the ticket was so expensive was not that it was for the same day, although that still was partially a reason, but because he had bought a ticket for fist class. Sending a quick text to Jane asking her what hospital was Cam in he went online, thank you domestic flights for having wi-fi, and saw that human resources had responded that he was not to leave that day but the next day. He sent a quick mail to some of his friends at the office asking them to cover for him, and they assure him that they would try their best because someone from human resources was already trying to check up on him. Moose worked all the way to San Francisco, and he made some great advances by the time he was needed to put his laptop away his friends assure him that Human Resources had no clue he was out of the office.

Moose walked out of the plane and didn't stop until he was inside a taxi on his way to see Cam, later on when he was in front of her door knocking he noticed that he was trembling and later he realized that he was nervous about Cam. Was she ok? Jane had said that she was fine, but now he wondered if she was just trying not to make him nervous, he pushed the door open and saw Cam laying on a hospital bed, and he felt his eyes fill with tears. Jane was next to him in an instant whispering to him if he was ok? Ty who was already there came to his side too, and Cam called for him from her bed. They all spent the rest of the day with Cam and that night Moose pleaded with Ty to be the one that stayed with her and reluctantly Ty accepted not before winking at his sister and telling her that he didn't want any sharing of the bed.

The rest of the week Moose stayed with Cam they talked about their plans for the future and both of them decided that if things continue to go as they were in two years, they will talk about moving together. The place would be determined at that point but after a year of things going great with them and Moose only seeing that living in different places was making him at least extremely sad took the initiative to start searching for a job in her area. He didn't mention anything to Cam because he didn't want to pressure her by any means, although he would talk to Jane about how their business situation was going in the sense of if they would need to move the business to make it more successful. Jane told him that she thought that going to Seattle would give them a better chance to be near bigger companies that were interested in their projects. Also, she told him about a merger that they were discussing with the guys for a new project but that nothing was settled and when he asked Cam she told him about the project but didn't mention the move.

He centered his job search for Seattle, and he was happy when a couple of companies seemed interested in him, and then he traveled to Cam and told her that he didn't want to live on the other side of the country anymore. She seemed to misunderstand his intentions at first thinking that he wanted her to move to New York, so he quickly explained that he was ready to move wherever she needed him to be. "I know you are probably going to need to be in Seattle near the guys and I'm ok with that. I have some offers from companies, and if you want to stay here I can find a job here too, either way, I want to be near you, and I just need you to say if you are ok with me being near you."

Cam told him that she didn't want him to resent her for making him move and he stopped her telling her that he was the one that wanted to move near her. She told him more reasons why she was afraid he would later see the situation with different eyes and he dismissed every single one of them assuring her that he was certain and plead with her not to be afraid. By the end of the conversation Cam was convinced that Moose was sure about what he was offering her and she was more than glad to think that soon enough she would be living in the same city with her boyfriend. At the end of the year they all move to Seattle, Jane and Michael share an apartment and Cam and Moose found a little townhouse that serve as little office for the girls company. Four years later on an afternoon when all his friends were in town Moose looked around the table and smiled at the fact that he was more than happy about how his life was going. Cam put her hand on his cheek caressing it slowly while asking him if he was ok he smiled at the cold sensation that spread on his face due to her rings making his smile mimic one of the cheshire cat while he looked at her.

He took her hand and kissed her palm and then gave special attention to her two rings giving each one a kiss making her laughed. Moose love how she wouldn't take them off since the day he had put them on her finger promising her that he would always love her and treasure her for eternity. Yes, he love his life and the fact that in a couple of months they would welcome a little version of themselves make his future look brighter by the second.

 **The End.**

 **Notes**

I really hope you like this story; soon I'll try to update the other one cause I feel more inspire now. Review? Comment? Please?


End file.
